


Fairytale

by Teawithmagician



Series: Goodness, it's Stucky! [14]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Angst, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Steve Rogers, Genderbending, Het, Mental Health Issues, Past Abortion, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Platonic Romance, Post-Canon, Post-Civil War, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Romantic Friendship, Serum Side Effect, Serum Unexplored Side Effect, Spilt Personality, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 07:36:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6275485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teawithmagician/pseuds/Teawithmagician
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the night, Stevie starts bleeding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairytale

**Author's Note:**

> I try to forget you know memories  
> I'm still on the run you beggin' on my knees  
> Will I ever learn how to get control  
> Will I ever know you covered in my soul
> 
> \- Song Ohne Namen, Milky Chance
> 
> Here is AU where Phil Coulson survives first Avengers timeline and still serves at S.H.I.E.L.D. All the events are linked closely with Serum influence on fertility discussion at one of the forums, due to which Bucky was told, jokingly or not, to be one of the more likely "matching" partners for Steve under the circumstances, as their mutations must be very close.
> 
> The fic is named after Milky Chance song as I'm fond of the band, yup.

In the night, Stevie starts bleeding. It's very alike with her period back in the time she had it. It smells of salt and iron. The smell of blood turns Bucky on, in his first move he tries to catch Stevie's neck in his arm. Being punched in the face, he calms down.

It's like a button that turns him on and off. Stevie avoids doing it to him, she can hit him like no one else but she prefers to speak. Bucky says it works, too.

“It's your blood,” Bucky says, alerted. It's dark in the room, curtains are drawn. In the pale streetlight soaking from the outside, they seem red like blood smeared on Steve's hips, on the lap of her shirt, on her arms, covering them with dark gloves.

“Yes, it is,” Stevie agrees. She puts the blanket between her hips, it seems like she loses more blood than her body can contain. The blanket is woolen, it absorb the blood, getting heavy, like a cannon ball.

They have S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter on the parking next to the house in a couple of minutes. Grey coats – Thanksgiving is long gone and it's pretty cold outside – offer Stevie to lay down on the stretcher and let them solve all the problems for her.

The stretcher is red and gray, Stevie thinks she likes the consequence of colors. Bucky's singlet is red, and his face is gray, too. When the medics who came along with the gray coats say it may be more safe for Stevie to be fixated on the stretcher while transportation, Bucky says it is not. He is holding the stretcher with his both hands while they are flying though it is not necessary – it's steady enough.

Everything that's going on around them is quick and operative. Coulson. That must be Coulson to know of her emergency first, to send the paramedic team, to arrange the transport, to choose the agents – Stevie sees familiar faces, they've been on missions together, and the missions were tough.

Coulson is dying to be useful to his childhood heroine. One he confessed shyly he chose the life he lived because of Stevie because she wanted to be like her, to serve his country proudly, his chin up. Bucky is suspicious about Coulson and his Captain America cards; they talked about it before.

“Why? I think that's sweet.”

“That's obsessive.”

Bucky has jumped in the helicopter. Nobody asks him to go, but nobody dares to stop him. His S.H.I.E.L.D. operative status makes him a full-fledged agent: it's not like it has been in HYDRA, Bucky is not an Avenger, his access level is still one of the lowest. No matter the suspicions, S.H.I.E.L.D. values the agents who achieve their missions’ goals, and Bucky is just a kind of an agent: with a slant to mass destruction, but still valued.

Bleeding doesn't stop for several hours while Stevie lies in the ward of the medical center. The ward is neat, white and futuristic, her thick, dark red blood pours on the sheets so they have to be removed every half an hour. The samples are tested, the biopsy is made, various probes of her blood taken to the lab for further investigation. S.H.I.E.L.D. has the best medical personnel in both Northern and South Americas, yet they can't explain what happens to Stevie.

“Serum side effects,” Stevie says in a confident voice. She knows she is not dying, she can't die like that – on a chromed bunk, wearing that sick greenish hospital robe. There is so much work to do, so many things to know, so many missions to complete... so many nights to sleep at Bucky's side.

Assistant brings him a chair, but Bucky prefers to stand by the bed. He's not holding Stevie's hand, he is not even moving – snipers are not the most fluid guys - but something makes the medics get around him to approach to what they must call a “Captain America's deathbed”, Stevie notices. She's seen it all before and she is not afraid, maybe for no reason – she should be, but she feels no fear.

Stevie doesn't want to die – nobody wants, but she died for thousands of times those years. All the fear she had, it burned out years ago. She just doesn't want to be alone anymore. She wants to spend a weekend in New York throwing coins into the fountain, Bucky's breath on her neck, ice-cream melting in her hand. If it's the last thing she can do – well, she wants to do it sooner.

Bucky's eyes disagree. They are frantic with anger and despair when Stevie asks him to hold her hand. He does it eagerly, squeezing her hand so hard it feels like he wants to break her every bone. “It's metallic, right?” Stevie asks. She knows it is. Bucky loves the idea synthetic skin makes everyone forget that one of his arms technically is not that kind his. She lies to him, but that lie makes his look warmer every time he hears it, perfectly knowing it's a lie, but... but not this time.

“Yes, it is”, Bucky nods. He looks at Stevie like it's him bleeding his innards out and dying instead like he is put into the cryochamber back again and the whole his world is fading away. He's so tall and handsome like no man she's ever seen before and after, Stevie thinks. She wants to imprint him in her memory like he is, wearing some rubbish he sleeps in, his body still remembering the dreams they had together.

“If I am not making it...” she starts.

“No!” the clench of her hand becomes so cruel she breathes out. “No. You will make it.”

When Coulson enters, a strange expression on his face Stevie fails to interpret, two gentle Chinese P.M. accompany him, forming the first-aid squad of the uttermost emergency. Stevie has to raise her head from the pillow to see Coulson behind Bucky's shoulder. Bucky's shoulder covered in synthetic skin looks a little bit bumpy, though the covering is the closest to natural they have.

Bucky doesn't look at Coulson as Coulson clears his throat and fixes the shield-shaped lapel badge in his jacket. It takes guts to speak when Bucky's back is like that. Whatever Coulson and P.M's are going to do to Stevie, they'll have to do to Bucky first, and, consequently, to get murdered in the most violent way.

Luckily, Coulson was threatened so often he doesn't really care. With his combat skills, he shouldn't be afraid of superhuman abilities either. Every Serum patient can be a supercombatant with physical abilities worthy an army, but it's admittedly hard to be a supercombatant with a teeth-brush in your eye.

“Miss Rogers,” Coulson starts solemnly.

“Miss Rogers is for the Art teacher I've never become,” Stevie correct him. “I'm Stevie.”

“Oh, of course, Stevie,” Coulson is easily confused with everything about Stevie he thinks he does wrong. It only gets worse when Stevie tries to encourage him. “I mean, it's a glorious day for the country, for the S.H.I.E.L.D., for all the humanity...”

“She's bleeding for three hours, twenty-six minutes and twelve seconds,” Bucky cuts Coulson off. His jaw is so still it must distort the space around it, wires on his neck tensioned. Stevie knows Bucky controls himself, but control is not enough – he is still trying to crash her hand, holding on to it either like a knight on the Saint Grail or a sinner on an angel's feather.

“The bleeding is an unknown effect,” says P.M. on Coulson's left. Stevie remembers her name, it's Tong Mingxia. She must be that genetic Bucky and Hawkeye traveled to Hong-Kong for, the one HYDRA showed interest in, so the S.H.I.E.L.D. has to be proactive and recruit Professor Mingxia before HYDRA has captured her. “But your body doesn't count it as an ultimate blood loss. It's a reconstruction.”

Tong Mingxia has a scar on her chin, round like a pebble. Stevie knows she might have a hole in the chest as well, but Bucky is always fond of snipers' duels. He wins, and, as he wins, he makes nicks not on his rifle – in his memory just to enjoy he has it. How does Bucky feel about it, Stevie wonders? He looks like he doesn't really care. For a moment, Stevie's vision becomes vague, she hopes it's not the blood loss killing her and grabs Bucky's fingers to keep her in reality.

“Explain,” that must be Bucky asking. As Stevie's vision clears, she knows Bucky looks at Professor as though he doesn't remember her, and Professor looks back at him like he is a sword in a showcase – something beautiful, deadly but dreadfully old-fashioned.

“Miss Rogers' body is changing because it's inevitable. As Serum integrated into its structure on all the levels... abnormal physical activity... the negative influence of the prolonged state of deep frost,” the second Professor is speaking now. There's something similar with Professor Tong's in her long olive face. A sister? A daughter? She tells Stevie things she heard thousands of times and got sick of them decades ago.

“You are pregnant,” Coulson wedges in the monolog what sounds like a river for Stevie. “Congratulations, miss Ro... Stevie. I'm lucky to be the first to tell you. A child to Post-Serum parents, the first in the world! I am so proud I feel like I am somehow connected to this happy accident. In fact, I am not, but still – may I shake your hand, miss... Stevie? What a shame we can't take photos. If I was a president, I would apply for a national celebration.”

The river swiftly changes its direction. It always flows on and on except for now: it winds and turns about, and jumps on the rapids, and roars on the edges of the waterfalls.

“Would you please repeat, agent,” Stevie demands. Coulson starts talking about photos and celebration once again, carefully, making sure he misses no word, she has to interrupt him for the second time, “No, start from the point, please.”

“You are pregnant,” Coulson repeats. Professors Tongs look at Stevie like she's just stepped out Howard Stark's infernal chamber, being a model of a human of the next generation. Coulson radiates with proud, he is so much of a happy father, only his dark funeral-like suit spoils the impression.

“What we experience now, it is so-called “washing” of the embryo. That sometimes happens to the woman firstly expecting, though in your case it’s a little bit more blood than it normally is. Our hypothesis is that's a revanche for all the years you were spared of some of your... body functions. Serum must have sterilized you as well as Mister Barnes, but it appeared to be a much more interesting substance with diverse effects.”

Bucky is no more holding Stevie's arm. He steps back, quietly moving in the corner, behind the fierce light of the aluminum lamps' glowing from the ceiling. The same look at his face, Stevie remembers it when she called him Bucky for the first time after all those years, and he asked in response – who the hell is Bucky?

Bucky must be shocked to hear it, but Stevie is shocked far more. Pregnancy is a thing to happen to, well, women who are not Captain America and who don't contain all the palette of Serum mutations in their DNA. For all those years, Stevie believed she couldn't have children, she got used to the thought sparing her from more pain and loss, but – but may it be that for all those years she was mistaken?

The moment Stevie looks at Coulson as he shakes her hand, she realizes there's no Bucky in the room. Cameras show him leaving and disappearing beyond the base fencing. As an agent, Bucky can come and go on all the levels he is accessed to, but Stevie knows he didn't just go – he's gone.

***

What Bucky does is running – he is especially good at it. When he escaped, even HYDRA was unable to find him, and they were good at finding lost things.

He runs in the dark lanes, jumping and dodging, he avoids well-lit places and chooses the most distant routs. His singlet and jeans are a summer outfit driving attention. He has to steal a jacket, so he steals it from a stool in the bar. And a wallet. And the money he requires because the first thing he does is getting rid of S.H.I.E.L.D. credit cards.

The second thing he does is prioritizing. There are several standard things doing them is giving S.H.I.E.L.D. agents a direct trace to his current location. What Bucky is not going to do is pointing his current location on the map. The tipster put into his arm by S.H.I.E.L.D. half a year ago, Bucky replaced on the surface for just such an occasion. A laceration under the synthetic skin and the tipster crunches between the fingers.

When running, stay on the run, moving target is harder to hit. By dawn, Bucky gets to the railway tracks and jumps in into the industrial train heading west. There are the lines in his head about heading west, but he fails to understand if it is something he knew before or after. All his life is divided in two now: it's Part One, The Life of Bucky Barnes, and Part Two, The Rise of Winter Soldier.

Bucky has to break the lock to get into the carriage full of car parts and smelling like a Kishinev garage – once he experienced Kishinev garage hospitality and found it insufficient. Garage owner and his friends had to be “removed” because the area was assigned for single military use only. HYDRA operative was on the mission and needed no witnesses, so he performed the protocol.

Bucky closes the door, leaving a narrow crack for ventilation. In the weak morning light, he sees the blood stains on his skin. Bucky rubs them away, remembering of the Part Three, in which Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier appear to be the same person, a thing he needs to recollect. He sits down on the floor, his back to the carriage wall, and asks himself how it all has gone so far.

Bucky Barnes is dead. He died somewhere between falling from a train and the moment Soviet soldiers found him, or maybe Arnim Zola killed him by accident as Bucky didn't survive with the experiment. The man sitting in the carriage allows Stevie to call him Buck because he has the face of her friend, but he is not the real Bucky Barnes. He is Winter Soldier who is sometimes called Bucky and shares some of Bucky's memories and personality traits, but it is not enough to state he is Bucky Barnes.

He is still hostile towards the mirrors, a thing he can't overcome easily. When he from time to time looks into the reflecting surfaces, he explores his face with cautious interest. His face looks new, and it looks old. There's something strange about it, maybe it's about the expression or the look. A person whom Bucky – no, Winter Soldier – doesn't know slowly comes to face him from both metal or glass as he looks into it. It's a man who looks familiar but he's not the man Stevie knows.

Winter Soldier knows he is always inside, but who is outside, it depends. Who's this arm, roughly soldered to the shoulder and covered with synthetic skin, is an open question, too. Winter Soldier is whole. His arm is metallic, but it's a part of him, a man and a machine, he doesn't divide his arm from him though there are times he thinks it's his arm for his HYDRA brand – they made it so big and shiny for no one took him for a man: he is a HYDRA thing, a HYDRA property.

Bucky Barnes is a broken boy soldier, a Brooklyn kid who made mistakes and wore an old-fashioned haircut. He fell into the grinder and it ground him with all his selfish, shallow hopes and dreams, with all his dirty little secrets and mad sudden hopes. Bucky Barnes' arm is embedded into his flesh in blood and gore, but he is not a HYDRA thing and none of its property.

The difference between them is immense. Winter Soldier was born at HYDRA operating family, the life he lives is for rent, it was a life of Bucky Barnes Bucky failed to protect. Winter Soldier is a stranger here, a substitute for a man she loves. Winter Soldier is not a father of the child, he can't be the father of the child. He is a master assassin. He is a war machine. He functions on purpose. He aims to eliminate.

Bucky Barnes could be the father of the child. Bucky Barnes knew her from the very beginning, he was so jealous she was everyone's friend, not only his, he wanted to quit Howling Commandos, but he was so worried there'll be nobody to cover her he stayed. Before the war, Bucky and she even rented an apartment together, though they have to lie they are brother and sister to do it legally. Bucky was falling in love with her day after day, and when he fell, he got conscripted because he was afraid.

“Are you sure?” asks the man in a blue jacket, sitting opposite to Winter Soldier. Blue jacket coughs in his hand violently, there's something dark between his fingers – maybe blood.

“Yes.”

“I did it before,” says the blue jacket. He looks at the Winter Soldier, smiling with the corner of his lips. Winter Soldier keeps calm. He can't shut him up but he is not bound to listen.

“I did it before, in Brooklyn. I was very drunk, and she was very drunk. I don't know what I was thinking about. Hormones? I was a bastard. A month later she told me she was expecting, and I said... well, I said... Fuck, I said I need to go to the bathroom. I left the money under the napkin, I only said I needed to wash my hands.”

“You are lying. If you know that, I know that, too.”

“No. You don't have all my memory,” the blue jacket looks at him sullenly. “I've never given it all to you. You have my life but you will never have all my memory.”

“I can have anything of you I need,” Winter Soldier shows his teeth. He hates this man like he never hated even Arnim Zola, this awkward, stupid little sniper with his old rusty rifle, in rotten clothes, waiting under the ice like a snowdrop.

“No, you can't,” the blue jacket smiles again, his smile is bizarre. What's he smiling at? He is going to die because the Winter Soldier is going to smash his head on the carriage door under this quiet wheels knocking.

Winter Soldier stands up. The stolen jacket smells like tobacco and stranger's sweat, it is ringing with the metallic and leather belt and it is inconvenient for a fight. Fighting the man in the blue jacket is not a real fight. Winter Soldier approaches, his boots hitting the wooden floor like hammers. His pace is heavy for his hand is heavy. With it, his body is perfectly balanced. Blue jacket has no chance, but he is not afraid.

“You've left her just like me,” the blue jacket coughs and spits on the floor. “When I saw her next time, I was a sergeant. She asked me if I have a designation, and I said, “Yes”. Yes, I have a designation. I heard you had my baby, but you had to... You didn't have it now in any way. And I – I have a designation. What do you have?” the blue jacket turns his face to the Winter Soldier. His face is pale, his sockets are brown, “What is your designation?”

“You are lying,” Winter Soldier grabs blue jacket collar and lifts him upon the ground. Pupils of the blue jacket are wide and round like roubles, he is so light Winter Soldier feel like he is holding a bag full of bones. “Ты все врешь, сука. Ты все врешь потому что ты лживый, трусливый сукин сын.”

“No,” the blue jacket whispers, his front teeth cleft for gnawing the metallic plug they put in his mouth to keep him quiet while procedures. “I'm telling you the truth. Do you want to leave her like I did?”

“I am not leaving her. It's you leaving her,” Winter Soldier roars, electric with pain and anger. He loses his patience so easy like there were no ages of training. The blood is pumping in his ear, the veins are pounding on his temples, gasoline smells just like a portion of morning napalm. “You left her and you are leaving her again, мудак.”

“I can't even walk,” the blue jacket whispers with his parched lips. When Winter Soldier loses hold of his collar, he falls on the ground. The blue jacket is not lying, he is too starved to walk, even to move. He can only lie on the floor, in the puddle of ice-water, with brown frostbites everywhere on his skin, and breathe like mad, nails scratching on the floor.

The picture is so familiar and disgusting it strikes Winter Soldier right into the head, waking him up. He stands on the floor of the moving carriage which takes him away from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base Stevie trapped in. How did it come it happened? He must be sterile. He must be sterile. There are no children they can have. The idea, it's just mad, but... What would HYDRA say on having an ascendant of two mutants? What would HYDRA do to a woman pregnant with unknown powers and opportunities?

What would HYDRA do, if it was S.H.I.E.L.D.?

**

“It's not the first time he runs away,” Tony says. He brings flowers just to say he doesn't know what the hell he is supposed to do but wants to take part in the prenatal care program. He is wearing one of his outfits that may cost a fortune for some Jersey orphanage and there are funky cufflinks in the sleeves of his shirt.

Stevie takes the flowers, says they are ridiculous, and puts them into a vase. Tony brings her flowers with an additional explanation she can use them as drawing model when she is bored: Tony doesn't remember Stevie prefers nature to the still-life. She doesn't know when she has time to, they have to explore the archives and find the old documents of Serum experiment.

“He is not running away.” Stevie crosses her arms. Whatever happens, it happens without involving Tony. He has his relationship to care about.

“But you don't know where is he,” Tony insists. The light falling through the window makes him a better model than a bunch of his flowers. The flowers might have been nice if they were brought by Sam or Natasha and didn't look like something people put on the graves.

“Does Pepper know where are you?” Stevie asks in response. Pepper doesn't because flowers look like they were bought at the flower shop on Tony's way to Stevie's flat. If they were arranged by Pepper, they were minimalistic, and if Tony had time to arrange flowers by himself, he would make it more interesting.

“Still think your boyfriend is stable?” Tony looks amused, and Stevie slaps his face in a blink of an eye. Tony punched her in teeth when Civil War had just begun. Stevie has a right to hit him as a woman, but she does it either like a woman and a soldier. 

“I don't deserve it, but under your condition...” Tony starts, and Stevie mercilessly slaps him once again. She has a heavy hand without the iron glove, Stark's head must be dizzy.

“Okay, maybe I go too far this time. But it's not the first time he runs away,” Tony points out, checking his front teeth with his fingers. It's more of a demonstration than a real damage, Stevie knows his teeth is not shaky, at least, she believes so.

“He always comes back,” Stevie responses. There's blood in the corner of Tony's mouth and she regrets hitting him so hard. Yes, Bucky always comes back... but once.

Stevie remembers that one only time better than all those times coming next. She forgot the time he never came back decades ago and tried to never think about it again. There was a thing what... happened. An unlucky accident, a thing she never talked about even with doctor Erskin who knew of her personal life even more than Peggy sometimes, though both of them would never judge on Stevie for making a decision that saved her life.

“What if he doesn't?” Tony looks at Stevie with an inquisitive expression on his face. He sits on the corner of the couch, his elbows on his knees, his fingers clenched, and waits for something Stevie hardly understands.

“He does,” Stevie says matter-of-factly, and starts again with the direct question, “What is Prenatal Care Program? I didn't accept it.”

“Yes, because that's what Fury is going to offer to you,” Tony points his fingers at Stevie. Tony has beautiful tanned hands, it always reminds Stevie of his father. Howard Stark did have style, too; and fondue. “Your child is going to be special. And we don't know what happen to him with Serum genes on these stages. Both you and Mister Barnes became Serum patients as adults. In the case of difficulties or unwanted mutations, you'll be needing help.”

“I'm fine. I can carry myself,” Stevie has a strong feeling of Deja Vu. It’s like she has already told that under the similar circumstances.

“I still want to punch you in teeth sometimes,” Tony sighs. “On the one hand, I can't punch a pregnant American hero, on the other without Jarvis you would probably break my jaw or something. But to be honest, Stevie, you need help. The father of the child is the most unstable prototype and you are the less known because most of the researches on your case were lost or destroyed. After your mutations interacted in such an unexpected way, nearly everything can go wrong, and I...”

“And you?” Stevie gives Tony a look that Natasha calls piercing. Natasha and Clint are the only members of the team who at least seem to be happy with the news about her expecting. They can't be happier than Coulson, still they beat Fury's rating who solemnly told Stevie he had to acknowledge the researches and simply walked away. 

“And I,” Tony rolls up his eyes. “We fight together, remember? I was your friend, and then I wasn't, and now I'm like more than a friend than an enemy though you never dine out with me in any way because Bucky is not allowed to go into the public places...”

“That's a lame joke. There were restaurants in New York your father had to pay twice to be crossed off from their blacklist.” Stevie hates Tony joking on Bucky's current condition of mind, but Tony finds and especial pleasure in making fun of it again and again. The worst part is some of these Bucky jokes are really funny, but that doesn't mean Stevie is going to let Tony be disrespectful towards a HYDRA prisoner.

“What did he do, upgraded their stove while waiting for the lunch?” Tony asks flamboyantly and Stevie can't hold back the smile. He knows his father, and Stevie would tell him more about Howard if they weren't fighting and arguing for past two or three years.

“Upgraded their ventilation systems mostly,” Stevie puts her elbow on the cushion. She is a little bit confused in the way Tony looks at her and in the way she must look back because the whole thing starts to be... confusing. “I'm not taking part in any programs before I know everything it is about. I want it to be official. I'm not walking in the dark and this child is not a future prisoner or a weapon both for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury.”

“Why do you always need to dramatize?” Tony is irritated easily, but Stevie stands her ground, happy about the moment of confusion has ended. She knows the pregnancy won't affect her for two or three months, so she has time enough to finish her current work and explore that Prenatal Care on the whole levels to know should she agree to it or not. “You and him having a baby are like a donkey and a mule making a horse. You are not supposed to have children due to the ultimate changes in your DNA, but it's like that your DNA matched in the end. Do you understand how much of a breakthrough it is?”

“I do, but does the social here overcomes the personal? I gave the S.H.I.E.L.D. no less than I gave to my country at World Wat II., and still S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to take me under control though everything I ever did was for the sake of peace and protection. You were the one to say we must be put under control. Now I'm only talking about you and your programs being under control, too. It's legit and...” Stevie starts in a confident voice, but she is interrupted by the sudden ramble.

“Do you hear that?”

“I hear what?” Tony's face is so innocent he must be off his head lying. 

There sound repeats louder and clearer. It's a body hitting the wall, a short gasp, and a shorter roar. Somebody is running up the staircase, violently punching the ones who are standing in his way. Well-armed, bullet-proof jacketed ones, as it sounds to Steve's ear. The steps, the banister, the wallpaper – everything seems to explode under the fierce punches.

“Who gave the order to increase the security?” Steve demands the answer, shocked by the possible aftermath of what's happening downstairs.

“Not like I am here giving orders but I thought that running around might be easier if coming back would become a little more complicated.” Tony pulls the word, shrugging his shoulders, satisfied with the impression he has left.

“Are you insane? Agents will die only because you want to have some fun,” Stevie jumps off the couch, runs into the hallway where he grabs her shield and slams the door open. What she is ready to see is dead S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' bodies, torn limbs and blood on the floor, wall and the ceiling. What she is not ready to see is Bucky throwing the android into the wall and crushing it with his head, more robots behind his back.

All the robots are tall, chromed and bear distant resemblance with the Vision though they seem a bit more fragile because their limbs are not whole, they are the interlocking of the metallic strips. Their fragility seems to be only on the outside for it takes Bucky noticeable time to demolish them, as the strips spring, absorbing the power of his punches.

“Not only to have fun,” Tony confesses, standing right behind Stevie's back while Bucky mercilessly hit the robot with his prosthesis arm covered in the rags of artificial skin, “but also to test my new security program. I want to know how much time it takes Mister Barnes to get through it. It might take him more with the grown intensity of impulses...”

“Nobody is going to make that... impulse thing grow. Understand?” Stevie turns back and looks at Stark, remembering herself that hitting him without his suit is technically a civilian assault. Before Stark answers, the steps under Bucky's feet crunches, making him and the robot fall into the basement. Gray dust rise like the atomic cloud, but judging by the sound from down below, the fight continues in a more ferocious way.

“Turn off the robots and deal with the destruction, please,” Stevie says, putting the shield under her arm. He knows her allergy drop dead in the beginning on the forties, but still she wants to sneeze and cough just looking at all this dust. “I'm not paying for anything: those are your toys demolishing the house I live in. And send Bucky back, he may get lost or something. I don't want to start another war just to get him back home.”

“Now that's a lame joke and disrespect to the father of your child,” Tony makes an offended look. Stevie knows he's perfectly pacing her with the way he frowns and lips are pursed, and she wants to ask him is he going to grow old one day, but he will make out another joke to answer. “And, by the way, why demolition? Let's call it reconstruction. Do you even wonder why there's no police and frightened neighbors on the stairwell?”

“Why?” Stevie asks with slight interest. She knows something is wrong, but Bucky and robots drive more attention than missing neighbors and police altogether.

“It's a plan reconstruction,” Stark smiles archly. The mustache on his upper lip looks like a dark teeth-brush Stevie used to clean her shoes with though his mustache is much more well-groomed. Stevie wants to smile him back, Stark's manner of smiling is infectious, but in the end she doesn't. 

“That's what we all need to know now,” Stevie says instead, returning to her flat closing the door. She puts the shield by the white painted wall, on the rug made of bands scrapes, and thinks of cocoa so intensively her mouth fills with saliva. So Stevie goes to the kitchen to make a cup or two, understanding that she has not decided yet if she is going to keep the baby.


End file.
